Friday, November 6, 2015

Ordinary background | White Fridays

Bismillah.

Assalamualaikum folks,Jumaah Mubarrak!Wish yáll a blissful day, a blessed Friday. Someone mentioned Black Friday to me and I had no clue. I guess in Islam we only have white Fridays. White is good. I learned from Kitab As-Syamail that the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam favored white garments.

Friday is too good a day to be branded negative. As they say in Arabic, it is Sayyidul Ayyam and among the angels, Friday is known as Yaumul Mazid because the angels acknowledge the increase in God's blessings for them on Fridays.

I don't know much about this religion. Am just an ordinary person who merely share what I heard, read or learned. And often times we have to unlearn and relearn. It's good to be ordinary and stay ordinary, I therefore agree with this saying:

Picked up this book yesterday at a new bookshop in KL. It's refreshing to see from the perspectives of people who are outside of our field -- viewpoints that are outside our own Weltanschauung. Although I must say I'm also keen on architecture.

Good to be and to stay ordinary. I am just a village girl who grew up in low cost flats in Penang. My first lesson on determination was when I was 8 years old. I had to climb up the staircase to the 9th floor carrying my heavy school bag because the elevators were out of service and that's quite a usual occurrence. Those early lessons in life helped defined me. I am sure it applies to you too. Our early childhood defines us and not so much the colleges we attended, be it local or abroad, or what car we drive or if we don't even drive.

Consider yourself fortunate if you have been brought up to be a grateful person, a person who has plenty of empathy for others, because you know from an early age how challenging life could be for some people. So our default state should be that of an ordinary person with an ordinary background.

I must thank my father for training me on humility. He used to own a cleaning service company in KL. He provided me with big monthly allowance during my college days, but he also made me follow his staffs, the cleaners, go on the streets to pick up litters. To this day, the experience remains a good lesson on humility which I fall back on. May Allah bless his soul - my father who taught me plenty of things about life.

Let's end this posting with this gem from Habib Umar bin Hafiz - a poster borrowed from Exa Publishing Facebook.

Lisan al-Din Writer & Editor

This blog was launched in April 2009, in honor of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Alawi (1869-1934) who founded and directed a weekly publication called 'Lisan al-Din' (Language of Faith) in 1912. Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, a renowned Algerian Sufi Saint of the 20th century was the founder of the Darqawiya Alawiya order - a branch of the Shadhilli Tariqah. May this blog, its readers and its writer benefit from the grace and blessings of Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, and all the other shuyukh, past and present, whose names we mention herein. May God's blessings be upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions. Ameen.

LA HAWLA WALA QUWWATA ILLAH BILLAH 'ALIYIL 'AZIMThere is no power and no strength save with Allah, the High, the Great